Washington, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Lois Frankel (FL-22) joined Reps. Judy Chu (CA-28), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), and Veronica Escobar (TX-16) in reintroducing the Women's Health Protection Act of 2023 (WHPA), a critical bill to restore the right to abortion nationwide and stop extreme, harmful state abortion bans.

Three years ago today, the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling overturned decades of precedent under Roe v. Wade, stripping millions of Americans of their constitutional right to abortion. Since then 26 states have adopted abortion bans or severe restrictions -including a near-total six-week ban in Florida--endangering lives and giving politicians unprecedented power over women’s personal medical decisions. WHPA would enshrine the protections of Roe into federal law by creating a nationwide right to access abortion free from medically unnecessary state-based restrictions.

“With half the country, including Florida, now living under cruel and extreme Republican abortion bans, the need to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act has never been more urgent,” said Rep. Frankel. “This bill would establish a federal right to access and provide abortion care, free from medically unnecessary restrictions and political interference. Decisions about if, when, and how to start or grow a family belong to women—not to politicians. We must never stop fighting until every woman has the freedom to make those personal decisions for herself.”

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